Florida A&M

[Queens_NYC]

Tuesday, December 14th, 2021
7:00 PM
Fifth Third Arena
ESPN+

The Rattlers (NET #322/KP #297) are 2-6 with their only wins coming against non-D1 competition. They're just two days removed from a 7-point loss against Akron, but the rest of their losses have come by double-digit margins.

They're a poor offensive/scoring team and take the 3rd-most 2-point shots/game in the country at the moment. They only take 15 3s/game and shoot them at a poor 27% clip.

What they lack in ability, they make up for experience, as 4 of the 5 starters from their last game are either in their 4th or 5th year with the program.

The Bearcats are 19.5 point favorites tonight as this marks the first of 3 home games that will conclude their 21/22 OOC schedule.

 

[sedziobs]

Florida A&M should be our easiest game remaining on the schedule. They force a lot of turnovers, which makes them an above average defensive team. Two players (MJ Randolph and Bryce Moragne) have steal rates of 4.4 or better (we don't have anyone above 3). They struggle to score though. No player averaging 15+ minutes has an ORtg above 90. The offense runs through Randolph, who as a decent assist rate and gets to the line a lot where he shoots 81%. He had 27 pts, 6 assists, 7 reb at Kansas St where the Rattlers had the lead with 13 mins left. The entire team shoots it well from the stripe at 76%.

This is a game we should play a disciplined pack line and try not to foul. On offense the focus should be on taking care of the ball. With how bad they are at defensive rebounding, fouling, and shot blocking, we need to be sure to get something up every possession. We should win regardless of our game plan, but I would like to see some evidence that we are scouting opponents. I haven't really seen much of that this season.

 

[skyblade]

Should be a comfortable win, but if you want a reason to worry, they prevent teams from taking many twos and force them to shoot a lot of threes. They don't force teams into a poor three point shooting percentage, but with our (lack of) shooters, that may not matter.

If we get complacent and start chucking up the threes they give us and missing, this could be closer than expected. On the other hand, it could be a good opportunity for guys like Davenport, MAW and Mason to see the ball go in the net from beyond the arc. Avoid TO's and make some open shots and we should win easily.

 

[Bcatfollower]

I missed the beginning, what was the starting five?

 

[skyblade]

I missed the beginning, what was the starting five?

Same as every other game. DDJ, MAW, Newman, JD and Ado.

Also Mason not dressed with a hip injury.

 

[skyblade]

Saunders hurt, basically walked off the court before the play was blown dead. With Mason out, it's time for McGinnis to show his stuff.

 

[skyblade]

Well Saunders right back on the court, must not have been much of an injury.

Our most successful lineup so far was with Hensley at the 3 and Vik at the 4.

 

[Bcatfollower]

To many substitutions. Let some guys play.

 

[sedziobs]

Our most successful lineup so far was with Hensley at the 3 and Vik at the 4.

And Koval at the 5. That trio spaces the floor and moves the ball.

 

[Bcatfollower]

CJ Anthony looks like he can play.

 

[skyblade]

CJ Anthony looks like he can play.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some real minutes in a year or two.

 

[TheLongHaul]

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some real minutes in a year or two.

Not related to CJ Anthony, but can someone explain the "hype" around AJ McGinnis? I've read lots of places that he's going to be a great player for UC, that we need him this year, he's the SG of the future, etc. I'm not saying those aren't true, but I just can't figure out where it's coming from. Was he a big time recruit that just happen to commit and play at UNCG? His numbers weren't special last year at a smaller school, and to my knowledge wasn't a 4* recruit or anything. I haven't seen much of him this year to judge so just can't figure it out.

Wasn't able to watch the game but looks like he got some decent PT tonight.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Solid defensive effort. Limited them to tough shots all night.

We won the rebounding margin handily (+15) but there still seemed to be some stretches where we could've done better on the defensive glass.

Would've been nice to have more players hit an offensive rhythm other than Davenport.

The free throw shooting was a positive, I guess.

Still didn't see a lot from our offensive sets that gave me confidence about our scoring against better teams.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Not related to CJ Anthony, but can someone explain the "hype" around AJ McGinnis? I've read lots of places that he's going to be a great player for UC, that we need him this year, he's the SG of the future, etc. I'm not saying those aren't true, but I just can't figure out where it's coming from. Was he a big time recruit that just happen to commit and play at UNCG? His numbers weren't special last year at a smaller school, and to my knowledge wasn't a 4* recruit or anything. I haven't seen much of him this year to judge so just can't figure it out.

Wasn't able to watch the game but looks like he got some decent PT tonight.

He has a quick trigger/smooth stroke/confident shot.

He took the 3rd most shots last night (7) despite playing the 9th most minutes (12).

He made a lay-up off an in bounds play, a deep 2 in the corner where his toe was on the 3-point line, and a quick trigger 3 with a man in his face late in the game.

So far he reminds me of Madsen but with less playmaking ability inside the arch.

 

[skyblade]

Not related to CJ Anthony, but can someone explain the "hype" around AJ McGinnis? I've read lots of places that he's going to be a great player for UC, that we need him this year, he's the SG of the future, etc. I'm not saying those aren't true, but I just can't figure out where it's coming from. Was he a big time recruit that just happen to commit and play at UNCG? His numbers weren't special last year at a smaller school, and to my knowledge wasn't a 4* recruit or anything. I haven't seen much of him this year to judge so just can't figure it out.

Wasn't able to watch the game but looks like he got some decent PT tonight.

It's sort of like asking why a man lost in the desert is so hyped for water.

It's not so much that McGinnis has been great (with his limited minutes it's hard to get too much of a read on him). It's that we are desperate for a knock down three point shooter. McGinnis looks like he could be that guy and also looks like he can play defense. Will he be a star? Who knows. But he's the guard most likely to develop into a true threat 3-and-D type player.

 

[skyblade]

Our defensive rebounding technique still wasn't good in my book. We managed to do fairly well by simply being the much bigger team (though we still gave up an almost 30% offensive rebound percentage). I do think I've been a bit harsh on Ody for his poor defensive rebounding. That's not to say he doesn't suck at it, just that almost everyone else does too, so I probably shouldn't single him out so much.

The proper rebounding technique is when the ball goes up, you find a man, put your body on him, then look for the ball. Almost all of our guys ball watch, often go to the basket and try to outjump guys for the ball and make little to no effort to box out their man. It's like they hope if they turn around and face the basket their man will run into them instead of going around them. You could call it hero ball rebounding, rather than boxing out as a team to keep the other team away from the basket (and getting the ball), we all just try to outjump everyone else.

The only player I saw fairly consistently showing good technique when it comes to rebounding was Koval. He did well this game, but normally runs into the problem that he's so thin it doesn't matter as he just gets pushed around. Lakhin tends to get by on size, athleticism and great hands, same with Ado (minus the great hands) and Ody (minus the size). I'm sure they've all been taught, Miller needs to find a way to get them to actually do it.

The guards aren't much (if any) better.

 

[waterhead]

Not related to CJ Anthony, but can someone explain the "hype" around AJ McGinnis? I've read lots of places that he's going to be a great player for UC, that we need him this year, he's the SG of the future, etc. I'm not saying those aren't true, but I just can't figure out where it's coming from. Was he a big time recruit that just happen to commit and play at UNCG? His numbers weren't special last year at a smaller school, and to my knowledge wasn't a 4* recruit or anything. I haven't seen much of him this year to judge so just can't figure it out.

Wasn't able to watch the game but looks like he got some decent PT tonight.

I think the hype (if we can call it that) was coming from UNCG where many of their fans etc thought he would possibly be their leading scorer as a soph. He played a decent amount of minutes as a frosh. More than Hensley.

In this case I think the Hype should be Hope. There had to be a good reason he was the last guy off the bench before Martin and Anthony early on. He got his shot with Mason out. If nothing else he can hit threes we can use him.

 

[TheRealMick]

This line up could be really interesting

Saunders
McGinnis
Madsen/Hensley
JD
Vik